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Born in Detroit, Michigan on 4 February 1948, Furnier originally started Alice Cooper as a band (later adopting the name as his own) consisting of him on lead vocals, lead guitarist Glen Buxton, guitarist Michael Bruce, bassist Dennis Dunaway and drummer Neal Smith. The band started out playing various small gigs around Los Angeles, but with their “controversial” stage antics they did so without success; that is, until they signed with Frank Zappa’s new Straight Records label. In 1969, they released their first album, “Pretties For You,” and despite it reaching Number 1 for a week, it was considered a failure.

For the band, their success and fame came from their live shows. Deemed the “chicken incident” where rumors were made that a chicken head was bitten off on stage, the band used the attention to further their career, adopting the new “shock rock” subgenre of rock and roll. It wasn’t until their third album “Love It To Death” that they saw success in record sales, the first of what was to be a string of successful records both as a band, and as a solo artist. The tour that followed in 1971 featured their unique stage theatrics, including an electric chair execution at the end of the show; not to mention their androgynous fashion styles.

The summer of 1972 saw the release of their most iconic single, and album to date, “School’s Out.” It also saw a change of their on-stage presence with Cooper taking on a more machismo-type attitude. With the continuing achievement in their album sales and tours, the band put out yet another commercially successful album, hitting their peak with their last album as a group “Muscle of Love.” Due to constant disagreements and various other issues, the band went on a ‘temporary hiatus’ in 1974, a hiatus that they would never come back from.

It was in 1975 when the still Vincent Furnier legally changed his name to Alice Cooper, to continue making music as a solo artist; with his first album, “Welcome To My Nightmare” becoming a huge success. It was from this album the basis for the stage show television special “The Nightmare” was conceived, later gaining a Grammy nomination for best Long Form Music Video and setting rock history. However, by 1977 Cooper had hit his lowest point in his battle with alcoholism and was checked into a sanitarium to sober up.

Using his experience in the sanitarium, a newly sober Cooper released “From The Inside” and set his stage show for the album as the inside of an asylum. Unfortunately the sober Cooper didn’t last very long, with almost all of his albums from the 80s being deemed ‘blackout albums’ due to being under the influence of various drugs; consequently, the albums, which had a much different sound were not as commercially successful as his previous solo albums. It wasn’t until 1986 and the release of “Constrictor” that Cooper found his career back on top.

The 90s found Cooper touring more than spending time in the recording studio. The touring continued into the 2000s with the lengthy break in studio recordings broken with his release of “Brutal Planet.” By December 2010 it was announced the Alice Cooper (the band) would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, seeing a reunited band perform for the first time in a long time.

In February 1995, Sully Ema decided to start a band with Lee Richards on guitar, Robbie Merrill on bass and Tommy Stewart on drums, which they initially called The Scam. The name didn’t stick long, as they changed the name to Godsmack after they recorded their first demo. In 1996 Richards and Stewart left the band and were replaced by Tony Rombola and Joe D’Arco. For a few years the band would tour up and down the east coast, until in 1998 they signed with Universal/Republic Records.

In a mere six weeks later, the replaced D’Arco with former drummer Tommy Stewart and released their eponymous album; this was then followed by a series of shows and tours around America and Europe. The album was met with success, reaching certified gold by 2011. In 2000 they returned to the studio to record “Awake” which was later released in October. “Awake” reached four-times platinum, and the single “Vampire” garnered a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 2002.

In 2003, Stewart once again left the band, due to personal reasons, and was replaced by Shannon Larkin. The following record “Faceless” went on to sell over a million copies along with a massive sold out tour with Metallica. In 2007 the band celebrated their being a band for ten years with the release of “Good Times, Bad Times...Ten Years of Godsmack,” that included a DVD of their live acoustic performance at the House of Blues, Las Vegas.

After taking about a yearlong hiatus, the band reunited to record and release “The Oracle” in 2010. The band headlined the Mayhem Festival, an annual heavy metal festival that travels throughout the United States, followed by a tour with Staind. In 2014 Ema announced that the band was working on new material, and in August they released “1000hp.”

The group originally consisted of the trio Alexakis as lead vocalist and guitarist, Craig Montoya on bass and Greg Eklund on drums. They found success with their first three full length albums, 'Sparle and Fade', 'So Much for the Afterglow' and 'Songs from an American Movie Vol. One: Learning How To Smile' which were all released on Capitol Records.

All three of these releases were certified platinum selling in the States, yet the band couldn't maintain the success for their next two releases and in 2003 both Montoya and Eklund decided to leave the project. Although Alexakis decided to persist with Everclear and released a further two albums with other musicians. Everclear have struggled with promotion campaigns and record label support throughout their career, one of the main reasons American Movie Vol. Two wasn't considered a successful album was due to the fact it was released just four months after the first and the public became confused as to why the band were releasing original material whilst singles were still being promoted from the predecessor.

Similar disputes occurred during the promotion of Slow Motion Daydream due to Alexakis demanding an early solo track that had been toured the previous year be chosen as the lead whilst record bosses were far more keen on 'The New York Times'. The end result meant that neither received consistent backing and the album stalled after passing 100,000 copies and the demise seemed unavoidable after both Greg and Craig decided they were leaving. However Alexakis managed to salvage the reputation of the band and worked on the successes they achieved in the 1990s.

Having met at the University of Pennsylvania in 1971, Eric Bazilian and Rob Hyman soon formed the Philadelphia-based outfit Baby Grand. Alongside local singer David Kagan and producer Rick Chertoff, Baby Grand issued two albums in the late ‘70s “Baby Grand” and “Ancient Medicine” on Arista Records. Following the release of “Ancient Medicine” the group folded and The Hooters were born, coining their moniker after the nickname of the keyboard harmonica, melodica. With the addition of guitarist John Lilly, bassist Rob Miller, and drummer David Uosikkinen, the band developed a devoted local following, known for their brand of ska and folk-infused rock.

The Hooters issued their debut studio album “Amore” on the independent Antenna Records in 1983. Whilst failing to cause a stir, Hyman and Bazilian were becoming highly respected composers and session musicians, and made large contributions to Cyndi Lauper’s “She’s So Unusual” in 1983. Two years later the band made their breakthrough with their major-label debut “Nervous Night” released on Columbia Records. Aided by the singles “All You Zombies”, “And We Danced, “Day by Day”, and “Where Do the Children Go”, the record peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard 200, later earning double-platinum certification. The album was supported by an extensive two-year period of touring after which the group returned to the studio to create something far-removed from previous releases.

1987’s follow-up “One Way Home” secured Gold certification shorlty after release and peaked at No. 27 on the Billboard 200. The record also proved popular in Switzerland where it charted No. 14, spawning the singles “Johnny B”, “Satellite”, and “Karla with a K”. The band’s last release on Columbia, “Zig Zag” arrived in 1989, after which The Hooters signed with MCA to release “Out of Body” in 1993. The following year the group issued their first live album “The Hooters Live”, recorded in Germany, and the second part of their greatest hits “Greatest Hits Vol. 2”.

A hiatus subsequently ensued with members Hyman and Bazilian working with the likes of Sophie B. Hawkins and Jon Bon Jovi, before returning in 2007 to release the full-length “Time Stand Still”. The live album “Both Sides Live” followed in 2008 on Hooters Music, following which the band issued the EP “Five By Five” in 2010.